With the rise of the number of prepared meals being served to the general public through food service establishments including restaurants, supermarkets, and convenience stores, there is a need for food service establishments to be able to prepare food in a convenient, efficient manner. Unfortunately, many of the existing ovens utilized by food service establishments fail to meet these needs.
Many existing ovens employ analog control circuitry which often provides only limited amounts of control over the various cooking operations that a user of the oven may desire to perform. In addition, the repeated expansion and contraction of oven compartments in conventional ovens can cause undue stress on the various heating elements employed therein.
Moreover, many existing ovens require the use of expensive permanent exhaust hoods, fire suppression systems, or both. Such requirements can substantially increase the installation costs as well as the operation costs of existing ovens. The mobility of existing ovens can also be severely limited by their attachment to permanent fixtures. Such ovens can limit the number and types of properties that prospective entrepreneurs may consider when choosing to establish a restaurant or other food preparation enterprise. As the cost of commercial real estate increases, retail food sites that are designed to facilitate permanent oven installations can be increasingly difficult to afford.
Thus, there exists a substantial need in the art for an improved food oven apparatus which can be utilized to prepare food while avoiding one or more of the drawbacks associated with existing ovens.